Published on Saturday, December 30, 2000 in the New York Times
Gore's Growing Lead Now Exceeds 539,000 Votes
by David Stout
WASHINGTON — Vice President Al Gore's nationwide lead in the
popular vote has grown by about 200,000, to more than half a
million, since Dec. 18, when the Electoral College sealed his fate
and made Gov. George W. Bush the 43rd president of the United
States.
A state-by-state survey by The Associated Press of the final
certified results put Mr. Gore's popular vote edge at 539,947, up
considerably from the lead of about 337,000 that was widely
reported in the first several weeks after the election. The totals
were 50,996,116 for Mr. Gore and 50,456,169 for Mr. Bush.
Much of the increase came in California, New York, and other,
smaller states that went for Mr. Gore, said Curtis B. Gans of the
Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, a nonpartisan
research group that has followed presidential elections for a
quarter-century.
Election officials in California and New York said today that the
bigger numbers for Mr. Gore were not hard to explain. Mr. Gore
carried both states easily. Both had large numbers of absentee
ballots, which could not be counted immediately, and, because
absentee votes generally do not vary sharply from election night
returns, it was predictable that the absentees would widen the vice
president's lead.
Mr. Gans said that in 1996, President Clinton's lead over Bob Dole
grew by some 200,000 votes from election night until all absentee
ballots were counted and all the votes certified, a fact all but
forgotten except by political trivia buffs.
"But it didn't matter," Mr. Gans said, in a race that the incumbent
won by more than eight million popular votes and by a 379-to-159
advantage in the Electoral College.
In the 1960 election John F. Kennedy had the electoral vote edge
and a 114,673-vote margin in the popular vote over Richard M.
Nixon. A total of 68.8 million votes were cast for president. Eight
years later Mr. Nixon won the Electoral College and a popular vote
margin of 510,645 out of 73.2 million votes cast for president.
The 2000 election, of course, will be remembered as the first in
112 years in which the leader in the popular vote lost the White
House because his opponent prevailed in the Electoral College.
Mr. Bush got 271 electoral votes, one more than he needed for a
majority and five more than Mr. Gore, who lost one vote in the
Electoral College when a Washington, D.C., elector left her ballot
blank to protest the District of Columbia's lack of voting power in
Congress.
Mr. Gore won New York State, 4,107,697 to 2,403,374, or by some
1.7 million votes. Lee Daghlian, the chief spokesman for the state's
Board of Elections, said today that about 360,000 absentee ballots
were requested, and that about 260,000 were returned in time to
be counted. In New York, absentee ballots must be postmarked no
later than the day before the election and received no later than a
week after the election.
Mr. Daghlian said absentee balloting was about 20 percent higher
this year than in 1996. He speculated that the presence of Senator
Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut on the Democratic ticket
might have caused more American Jews to mail ballots from Israel.
It was clear on election night that Mr. Gore had carried California
in a landslide, so it was expected that the nearly 1.5 million
absentee ballots that arrived in time to be accepted would sharply
augment his victory — and they did.
The final certified totals in California were 5,861,203 for Mr. Gore
and 4,567,429 for Mr. Bush. Alfie Charles, a spokesman for the
California secretary of state, Bill Jones, said that the percentage of
Californians voting by absentee ballot had been increasing, and
that about one-quarter now did. (Californians can vote absentee
without showing a compelling reason. Their ballots must arrive by
Election Day to be counted.)
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company
###
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Gore's Growing Lead Now Exceeds 539,000 Votes
by David Stout
WASHINGTON — Vice President Al Gore's nationwide lead in the
popular vote has grown by about 200,000, to more than half a
million, since Dec. 18, when the Electoral College sealed his fate
and made Gov. George W. Bush the 43rd president of the United
States.
A state-by-state survey by The Associated Press of the final
certified results put Mr. Gore's popular vote edge at 539,947, up
considerably from the lead of about 337,000 that was widely
reported in the first several weeks after the election. The totals
were 50,996,116 for Mr. Gore and 50,456,169 for Mr. Bush.
Much of the increase came in California, New York, and other,
smaller states that went for Mr. Gore, said Curtis B. Gans of the
Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, a nonpartisan
research group that has followed presidential elections for a
quarter-century.
Election officials in California and New York said today that the
bigger numbers for Mr. Gore were not hard to explain. Mr. Gore
carried both states easily. Both had large numbers of absentee
ballots, which could not be counted immediately, and, because
absentee votes generally do not vary sharply from election night
returns, it was predictable that the absentees would widen the vice
president's lead.
Mr. Gans said that in 1996, President Clinton's lead over Bob Dole
grew by some 200,000 votes from election night until all absentee
ballots were counted and all the votes certified, a fact all but
forgotten except by political trivia buffs.
"But it didn't matter," Mr. Gans said, in a race that the incumbent
won by more than eight million popular votes and by a 379-to-159
advantage in the Electoral College.
In the 1960 election John F. Kennedy had the electoral vote edge
and a 114,673-vote margin in the popular vote over Richard M.
Nixon. A total of 68.8 million votes were cast for president. Eight
years later Mr. Nixon won the Electoral College and a popular vote
margin of 510,645 out of 73.2 million votes cast for president.
The 2000 election, of course, will be remembered as the first in
112 years in which the leader in the popular vote lost the White
House because his opponent prevailed in the Electoral College.
Mr. Bush got 271 electoral votes, one more than he needed for a
majority and five more than Mr. Gore, who lost one vote in the
Electoral College when a Washington, D.C., elector left her ballot
blank to protest the District of Columbia's lack of voting power in
Congress.
Mr. Gore won New York State, 4,107,697 to 2,403,374, or by some
1.7 million votes. Lee Daghlian, the chief spokesman for the state's
Board of Elections, said today that about 360,000 absentee ballots
were requested, and that about 260,000 were returned in time to
be counted. In New York, absentee ballots must be postmarked no
later than the day before the election and received no later than a
week after the election.
Mr. Daghlian said absentee balloting was about 20 percent higher
this year than in 1996. He speculated that the presence of Senator
Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut on the Democratic ticket
might have caused more American Jews to mail ballots from Israel.
It was clear on election night that Mr. Gore had carried California
in a landslide, so it was expected that the nearly 1.5 million
absentee ballots that arrived in time to be accepted would sharply
augment his victory — and they did.
The final certified totals in California were 5,861,203 for Mr. Gore
and 4,567,429 for Mr. Bush. Alfie Charles, a spokesman for the
California secretary of state, Bill Jones, said that the percentage of
Californians voting by absentee ballot had been increasing, and
that about one-quarter now did. (Californians can vote absentee
without showing a compelling reason. Their ballots must arrive by
Election Day to be counted.)
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company
###
Common Dreams NewsCenter is a non-profit news service
providing breaking news and views for the Progressive
Community.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which
has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are
making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of
environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and
social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such
copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In
accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For
more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml If you
wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go
beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
NewsCenter | NewsWire
Search | Contacting Us | Sign-Up | Privacy
Tell Us What You Think: [email protected]
Making News?: [email protected]
© Copyrighted 1997-2000 All Rights Reserved. Common Dreams.
www.commondreams.org